Explicit Grammatical Intervention for Developmental Language Disorder: Three Approaches
Catherine H Balthazar1, Susan Ebbels2,3, Rob Zwitserlood4
1College of Health and Human Services, Governors State University, University Park, IL.
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
|April 8, 2020
Summary
This study outlines three sentence-level grammatical intervention methods for children with developmental language disorder, emphasizing systematic target selection and multimodal learning strategies for effective language development.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) impacts syntactic abilities in school-aged children.
- Effective grammatical intervention requires systematic approaches tailored to individual needs.
- Existing interventions often lack comprehensive evidence for widespread clinical adoption.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize shared principles and evidence for three sentence-level (syntactic) grammatical intervention approaches.
- To discuss clinical resources and propose future research directions for syntactic interventions.
- To advance understanding and adoption of effective practices for school-age children with DLD.
Main Methods:
- Overview of three syntactic intervention approaches: MetaTaal, SHAPE CODING, and Complex Sentence Intervention.
- Description of principles, examples, and supporting evidence for each approach.
- Focus on children aged 5–16 years with developmental language disorder.
Main Results:
- All three approaches utilize detailed grammatical analysis for target selection.
- Interventions feature explicit, systematic presentation with multimodal representations and engaging activities.
- Clinically feasible intervention intervals and intensities have demonstrated measurable effects.
Conclusions:
- Syntactic intervention effectiveness can be maximized through further research, including studies in diverse languages.
- Development of practical clinical tools for target selection, outcome measurement, and intervention tailoring is needed.
- Continued research is essential to enhance grammatical interventions for school-age children with DLD.
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